Anr-May-2017

May/June 2017

WARD COUNTY AG REPORT A bi-monthly publication of the Ward County Extension Office

AGENT’S NOTE DROUGHT OUTLOOK

Well folks, I’m sad to say this will be the last newsletter you receive from me as Ag Agent. I’ve accepted an offer for a position in the midstream industry, and I’ve decided to accept. My last day on duty will be June 9th. I want to thank you all for your support and cooperation over the past four years.

I’ll still be running cows north of town so I’ll still see ya’ll around.

Regards, - Courtesy of the National Drought Mitigation Center

LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF SMALL-HEADED SNEEZEWEED BY: Kay Ledbetter 1 1 1

Caleb L. Eaton County Extension Agent – Ag/NR Ward County 3600 S. Stockton Ave, Suite J Courthouse Annex Monahans, Texas 79756 Phone: (432) 943-2682 Email: [email protected] One plant currently flowering across different parts of the state is Blog: http://wardcountyextension.blogspot.com/ poisonous and should be of concern to ranchers, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.

DEMONSTRATION CORNER Small -headed sneezeweed, which falls in the sunflower family, is a native, warm-season annual that grows statewide except for the East Texas Piney Woods and extends into northern Mexico, said Dr. Barron Rector, AgriLife Extension range specialist in College

Station.

“Be aware that small-headed sneezeweed is very poisonous in the flowering stage to mainly sheep, but cattle, goats, mules and RANGE MONITORING ON COX RANCH horses are also susceptible,” Rector said. We’ll be going out to the Cox Ranch on May 24th to take the spring 2017 pictures for the ongoing range monitoring Dr. Cat Barr, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab’s demonstration. toxicologist in College Station, agreed.

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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension provides equal opportunities in its programs and employment to all persons; regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity

May/June 2017

- Continued from page 1 - Continued from previous column

“I was taught this plant causes ‘spewing sickness,’” Barr said. Fencing livestock away from localized infected areas also can “Ruminants technically regurgitate from abomasum backward reduce or eliminate potential problems. into the rumen, but this plant irritates the gastrointestinal tract so much that even cattle will vomit plant material and have green Small-headed sneezeweed is susceptible to most broadleaf slobber and nasal discharge. You can imagine how a horse would herbicides recommended for rangeland use. As an annual plant, colic, as well.” the most effective treatment with a herbicide is when the plants are 4-6 inches in height and these may be treated with ground Sneezeweed consumption by grazing animals produces signs of broadcast applications before flowering when the plants are illness including weakness, staggering, diarrhea, vomiting, actively growing. salivation, bloating, groaning and grinding of teeth, sticky non- pelleted feces and gastroenteritis, Rector said. Poisoned animals Rector said most grazing animals will not eat sneezeweed unless can have forced and fast respiration and a nasal discharge. they are in a state of hunger or searching for green material or Signs of illness will appear within a few hours after the forage under conditions when grasses have matured and are in consumption of sneezeweed, and animals may convulse prior to short supply. death, Barr said. “Your management and observation are needed to keep this plant “Not much else causes an illness that looks like this,” she said, from becoming your next problem,” he said. “It is a good idea to “but if you need confirmation, our laboratory can examine the scout areas where you have seen this plant growing in previous rumen content or stomach content microscopically and identify years.” the plant material. We’re here to assist your veterinarian with a diagnosis.” Rector said additional information can be found in the AgriLife Extension publication B-6105, “Toxic Plants of Texas: Integrated Rector said earlier feeding studies with this plant have shown that Management Strategies to Prevent Livestock Losses,” found consumption of as little as one-quarter of a percent of an animal’s through the AgriLife Bookstore at body weight produced acute poisoning and death, with the mature https://www.agrilifebookstore.org/. 2 2 plants being more toxic than the seedlings. The plant, also 2 commonly called “small sneezeweed” and “sneezeweed,” - Courtesy of AgriLife Today commonly occurs in small localized areas on moist habitats of silty, clay loam and sandy soils around ponds, tanks, bar ditches PREGNANCY DETERMINATION: and especially in ephemeral or dry creek bottoms, he said. METHODS, POSITIVES & NEGATIVES Rector said wet falls followed by wet springs usually assure a BY: Dr. Bruce Carpenter, Associate Professor & Extension Beef good crop of seedlings. He said in the past two weeks he’s seen a Cattle Specialist – Ft. Stockton lot of the plants growing from Sonora to Wichita Falls. “This spring, the small-headed sneezeweed can be found growing abundantly in creek bottoms that are drying out from Junction and Sonora northward to the Rolling Plains,” he said.

The plants have a single basal stem that can grow to a height of about 4 feet. The plant is characterized by having stem leaves that are alternate, lanceolate or oblong and are decurrent, running down the somewhat angled stem.

“Generally these plants flower in June and July but with a warm winter and spring, they are flowering in mid-May,” Rector said. “The heads have disk flower or central flowers that are tinged There has long been interest in diagnosing pregnancy. Some 4000 pale red to brown. The ray flowers are short and always yellow in years ago, reference is found in Egyptian records to determining color.” pregnancy in women based on changes in skin color and moistness (there were no experimental results reported on Because the plants are usually found in localized areas in a accuracy of the method). In beef cattle, the most common method pasture, hand pulling, mowing or burning may be effective for some time has been rectal palpation of the reproductive tract. management options, he said. - Continued on page 3 - Continued on following column Texas A&M AgriLife Extension provides equal opportunities in its programs and employment to all persons; regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity

May/June 2017

- Continued from page 2 BEEF CATTLE PRODUCERS MUST BE This information was presented at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle VIGILANT TO MITIGATE HERD HEALTH Short Course comparing three methods for determining RISKS pregnancy, and a summary follows: BY: Blair Fannin

RECTAL PALPATION Rectal Palpation is a very quick process requiring little equipment. It does require some training and experience, especially for evaluation in early stages of pregnancy though, in practice, many cattlemen test cows when weaning calves, culling open cows at that time. Cows can be sorted, based on pregnancy determination, right out of the working chute. Direct cost is low, from about $4-10/head. Indirect cost comes from misdiagnosis. An open cow called pregnant can cost up to 8 months of a cow’s cost without return. Beef cattle producers should be observant when conducting BLOOD TEST annual health vaccination protocols on their cattle, according to Blood Tests are highly accurate (≥95%). There are two types. In Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. one (BioPryn® from BioTracking, Inc.), blood samples are sent to a lab for analysis, with a cost of $2. 50-3.00 per sample plus Though not a statewide threat, the fever tick has resulted in some shipping. Results are available within 24 hours of when the herds in far South Texas to be subject to a quarantine zone. This laboratory receives them, so cows must be held for that period topic, as well as proper vaccination protocol and techniques, were before management decisions are made to keep or cull at that discussed at the recent Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers time. In the other test (Bovine Pregnancy Test from Idexx), Association Convention in San Antonio “Surveillance is key,” available through veterinarians, samples can be analyzed in said Dr. Joe Paschal, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist in groups as collected, so cows can be evaluated and management 3 3 Corpus Christi. “We want to enlist veterinarians and ranchers to 3 decisions made the same day. Some practitioners prefer to analyze be more observant of ticks on cattle. These fever ticks tend to samples in thei r clinic; cost is usually $4-5 per sample with no prefer soft tissue along the dewlap, brisket, forearm and back in shipping required. There are other private laboratories around the the flank area. country that perform the blood analysis service as well. Cows must be individually identified, with ear tags, etc. Both of these “It’s a one-host tick and we can use the cow as a control method. are essentially yes/no tests, so stage of pregnancy is not Right now, we can dip or spray the cow. If producers or determined. veterinarians see ticks on cattle that are unusual, even if they are

not, they are encouraged to collect those ticks and put them in a Testing can be done as early as 28 days post breeding (i.e., in little bottle of isopropyl alcohol and send it to Texas Animal first-calf heifers). Lactating cows should not be tested until at Health Commission veterinarians.” least 75 days after calving because the protein being measured stays in the system from the previous pregnancy for about 75 Paschal said if they are identified as fever ticks, “we need to know days. This is not a problem in herds with controlled where they are coming from and get a handle on them.” breeding/calving seasons of 90 days or less because all cows will have calved and be 75+ days after calving by the end of the “More than 99 percent of the time they are going to be common breeding season. So, as indicated, just wait the recommended 28 ticks, and we are going to know what they are,” he said. “There days (or more) from when bulls are removed to bleed and test. are some things to look for, and they are very easy to take off the animal. They are typically not very deep and not very colorful. When you pull a tick off and put it in your hand, it starts crawling ULTRASOUND Ultrasound is also highly accurate but does require expensive off pretty fast. These ticks do not. They are very slow.” equipment and training and skill. Besides merely determining pregnancy, ultrasound can be used for such things as determining The technical name for Texas cattle fever is bovine babesiosis, fetal gender and number and viability of fetuses. which relates to the organisms that infect the red blood cells of cattle. It is their destruction of the red blood cells that results in

Open cows cost. There are effective and feasible ways to anemia, fever and death. determine pregnancy. - Continued on page 4 - Courtesy of the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Browsing Newsletter

May/June 2017

- Continued from page 3 RANGE PLANT SPOTLIGHT: To learn more, AgriLife Extension experts recommend using Tahoka Daisy Tick App, a free smartphone application available at http://tickapp.tamu.edu. (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)

Meanwhile, because of a case in Florida, though now eradicated by animal health officials in that state, screwworm is still something producers should watch for. Dr. Tom Hairgrove, AgriLife Extension program coordinator for food and livestock systems in College Station, said watchfulness is key.

“We still need to be very observant,” Hairgrove said. “It’s a maggot and will feed on live flesh in animals. If you see maggots in a live animal, take some of those maggots, put them in isopropyl alcohol and send them to TAHC (veterinarians). We Description want to get ahead of it. With the Florida outbreak, it might have Annual, Warm, Native been around a while on some small animals and was missed. It Also known as Prairie Aster or Tansy Aster, this native could have been going on a lot longer than most people thought.” wildflower grows can grow to 12” – 18” tall and tends to bloom from spring to mid fall. The plant gets its name from where it was Hairgrove said this helps with surveillance and helps keep a observed in the late 19th century near Tahoka, Texas in the record of where the samples are coming from.” Hairgrove said he Southern Plains. also advises beef cattle producers to develop a relationship with a local veterinarian. Habitat Tahoka Daisy likes sandy or gravelly disturbed sites and can be “Sit down with your local practitioner,” he said. “Develop a good found throughout the western Great Plains. Extensive populations herd health program. A vaccination is just like insurance. We are of Tahoka Daisy can be sign of overgrazing or other disturbances, 4 4 just trying to mitigate against risk.” such as drought or wildfire. 4 - Courtesy of AgriLife Today Wildlife Usage

Moderate BQA TIP-OF-THE-MONTH: FIREARMS & BEEF Livestock Usage BY: Dr. Jason Banta, Associate Professor & Extension Beef Poor Cattle Specialist – Overton

Sources: Aggie Horticulture http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu

Native American Seed www.seedsource.com

A core principle of BQA is to implement management practices that prevent the adulteration of beef from foreign objects like bullets, birdshot, and buckshot. Shotguns should never be used to gather cattle and never use a firearm to encourage the neighbor’s bull to go back across the fence. Additionally, make sure hunters are educated about this issue and that they are aware of the locations of any livestock during a hunt. For more information If at any time you would like to be removed from our mailing about BQA and the dates of upcoming BQA trainings please visit list, call us at (432) 943-2682 or send an email to www.texasbeefquality.com . [email protected]

- Courtesy of the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Browsing Newsletter